Their Own World
by katiesquilts
Summary: Hikaru and Kaoru announce they love each more than brotherly love, but will the club approve? KaoruxHikaru !complete!
1. Chapter 1

Alright, I'm going to see how many reviews I get from this within one week. 5 or more gets to continue, and I'm NOT going to continue it unless you actually like it. Well, actually, I couldn't care less what YOU like, I'm just writing this for me. P

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Oh, hey, I don't own Ouran High School Host Club. Wish I did, though, cause then I could make a season 2! D

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Haruhi sighed. _This is going to be a long day..._

Having just arrived at the Host Club, Haruhi predicted that the day would be a long one. Obviously. Well, yeah, I just said that. So, yeah. It's gonna be a long day, if Haruhi says it will be.

Little did she know, the day would hold much more than her predictions could allow...

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"So, Haruhi-kun, what is your favorite sport?" a fangirl asked. She took a delicate sip of her tea and then set the cup down again, batting her thick eyelashes.

"Well," Haruhi began. "I'm not really into sports. But, I'll play just about anything if someone asks me to. Unless I'm in a bad mood, of course."

The fangirl laughed. "I don't believe you can ever be in a bad mood, Haruhi-kun. You're way too perfect!" Haruhi was about to point out a few of her own flaws, but the girl gasped and said, "Oh my gosh! Is it really that time? I'm so sorry, Haruhi-kun, I have to be with my parents at an important meeting. I'll see you tomorrow,though!" The girl gave a cheerful wave before sprinting gracefully out the double doors.

Haruhi blinked. _That was fast, I was barely with her for 10 minutes. Oh well, more time to wander around and listen in on other people's conversaions._

Harhui got up off of the plush couch she had been sitting on and wandered over to a small group centered around Mori and Honey. Honey was, of course, eating cake. Mori was sitting in a chair, silent and ever watchful.

"...strawberry is good too, but I like chocolate better." Honey was just saying. Haruhi mentally rolled her eyes; did he ever actually talk about anything else? Like, grades or something? At least she got herself into a wide variety of conversations.

Mori seemed to finally notice Haruhi, and gave her a brief smile before looking back at the small group. Haruhi thought about giving him a smile back, but her mood turned sour when a certain blonde haired nuisnace glomped her.

"Haruhi-chan, what are you doing over here? Oh, I see, your guest left early. What a lucky day, my little princess left earlier also!" The certain nuisance was hugging Haruhi, and it took all her strength just to stand up, he was leaning heavily on her.

"Tamaki-senpai, please get off of me. And why must you call me Haruhi-_chan_?" Haruhi was obviously hinting at the club's secret: Haruhi's a girl, but nobody 'cept the club members knows it. And '-chan' is a term of endearment used mainly with younger children, aiming itself at girls. _Girls. _That's why Haruhi always suggested they call her Haruhi-kun during club hours, or just plain Haruhi.

Tamaki covered his mouth with his hand, acting as though he had just let out a huge secret. "Oh! I'm sorry, Haruhi. It won't happen again, I promise!" Haruhi just gave her senpai a glare and shook him off the rest of the way. Before he could reattach himself, Haruhi disappeared, popping up next to Kyouya.

Kyouya, who was busy staring at his laptop screen, gave a blunt, "Hello, Haruhi," before ignoring her completely. Haruhi wondered what he was doing, but when she tried to get a look at the laptop screen, he gave her a light smack upside her head and muttered something about, "Minding your own business."

"Kyouya, that wasn't very nice," a peppy voice came from behind Haruhi. It was Kaoru, and Hikaru was right behind him. "You shouldn't let Tamaki see you abuse his poor little 'child', or it could turn into hell. For you, that is."

Kyouya, again, not caring, just muttered something incoherently and gave Kaoru a death glare.

Kaoru shook his hands in innocence, and then walked over to Haruhi, guiding her by the shoulders over to the group the twins had just been talking with. Hikaru was in tow again, and Haruhi was beginning to wonder if he was feeling alright. He was being so quiet...

"Here he is, Haruhi-kun! These girls wanted to talk with you privately, so we'll just go stand by our Lord." Kaoru winked at Haruhi before grabbing Hikaru by the hand and jogging off a ways.

Haruhi shrugged and turned to the girls. "Good evening, ladies," she said, bowing to the other girls before taking a seat offered to her. Leaning in so that she could keep her voice low, the host whispered, "Is it just me, or are Kaoru and Hikaru acting oddly today?"

All of the girls nodded, and one, obviuosly the designated spokeswoman, cleared her throat and whispered back, "Actually, that's what we wanted to talk with you about. We all figured it out; Kaoru's much happier than usual, not that that's a bad thing. But Hikaru seems...distant. He hardly even spoke when we were all chatting, and Kaoru didn't even seem to notice. It's almost scaring us, so we wanted to ask you. You're the only person who's ever told them apart, so we figured you must know them well."

Haruhi nodded. "Well, I only just noticed it now, but when I think back...they were acting odd this morning, too." Some of the girls nodded, they had noticed it earlier, and had asked around to see if they were the only ones.

Haruhi noticed just how tense this made the girls, so she laughed loudly and said, "Oh, but don't worry, it just means they have something up their sleeves, and Hikaru got the worse end. It's probably another of their little pranks, or something, anything, that they could do to cause trouble." A few of the girls nodded and giggled.

Haruhi stood up and bowed to the girls, and they waved to her as she walked away.

"Alright, guys, you can go back to your fans now," Haruhi told the twins, who had been chatting with Tamaki and the more-irritated-than-usual Kyouya. Before they left, though, Haruhi took a closer look at Hikaru. His eyes were glazed over, as though he were daydreaming.

_Maybe I'll ask them later, after club hours..._

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Haruhi was resting her head on the table. She was trying not to fall asleep, the day's earlier events had completely passed out of her mind. Mori sympathetically rested a large hand on her shoulder. Haruhi smiled, and even though he couldn't see it, Mori knew.

"Alright! That's all I have to say! Kyouya? Anyone?" Tamaki had just rounded up his summary of that month's activities, which no one had been listening too.

"Actually, Hikaru and I have somethig to announce," Kaoru said, standing up from his seat across from Haruhi. Hikaru also stood, the glazed look in his eyes replaced by a distinct emotion: fear.

Holding Hikaru's hand in his own, Kaoru took a deep breathe and blurted out, "Hikaru and I are in love!"


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, so, I want reviews for chappy 1. I was a piece of crap, I know. Please don't hurt me! I want to get this up and stuff so I can work on my FMA one! I'm trying to get one story for each anime I've seen, but I'm still trying out ideas for inuyasha and ayashi no ceres. (If you haven't seen Ayashi no Ceres, you NEED to watch it!)

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The room was silent. Kaoru and Hikaru were nervous, was it that bad?

Honey was the first to say something. "Well, congratulations!" he told the twins, even though they would see behind his fake smile. Mori smiled, but because he almost never smiled, they couldn't tell whether it was fake or not. Tamaki was dumbstruck, and...

Haruhi could suddenly piece everything together. Kaoru was happy because...well...it made sense, really. It was just one of those things you can't really explain. _I wonder what the fangirls will think once they hear about this..._

Tamaki clapped his hands together and put on a smile, a genuine one. "That's...great! I'm so happy for you two!" The blonde's smile turned into a grin and he ran over to the twins and engulfed them in huge hugs. How Tamaki-ish of him.

Haruhi hit her head on the table. "Owww..." she said, holding her head. "Today has been all too tiring. I'm ready to go home." That said, the girl pushed back her chair and turned towards the entrance. "Bye guys, I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Haruhi looked at Mori, Honey, Tamaki, Kyouya (who had been unfazed by the announcement, by the way), and lastly the twins. "_All _of you." The others only watched as she left.

Tamaki pulled back from hugging the twins. "What'd she mean by, 'All of you'?"

Kyouya pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and looked away from his computer screen. "I believe she was implying a threat. Aimed at the twins mainly. There must be some sort of reason, of course, for her to want you to come to school tomorrow."

Kaour and Hikaru said in unison, "Why wouldn't we?" Kyouya shrugged and went back to typing. "You should know Haruhi by now; she has a very wild imagination. I'm sure she could think up three good reasons you two would skip."

Mori's deep voice rang out in the room, getting everyone's attention, even though he was only whispering. "Or maybe she just wants to tell you what she thinks of this situation, but thinks it should be a private discussion. The only place she sees, or wants to see, you is here, at the school. If you skipped, she'd have to wait, and Haruhi is very impatient, as we have figured out before."

Tamaki nodded, "That's true. Well, this meeting is over; everyone can go home now."

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Haruhi arrived at the Host Club early. It had been hard to ignore Kaoru and Hikaru all day, and she felt really bad about it. But she couldn't blow up in their faces, not without telling Tamaki, Kyouya, Mori, and Honey first.

Haruhi had thought about it all night last night. Replaying the announcement over and over in her head, she couldn't figure a few things out. But she had come to a conclusion, even though it wasn't a pleasant one.

Sneaking into the 3rd music room, Haruhi glanced aorund. She and the twins usually arrived at the same time, so if she was early, she might just have enough time.

As usual, Kyouya and Tamaki were already there. _Mori-sempai and Honey-sempai must still be at kendo practice. _

"Haruhi! What are you doing here?" Tamaki's voice echoed in the room, and Haurhi shivered. "Ah, nothing, sempai. Actually, I wanted to talk with you, Kyouya, Mori-kun and Honey-kun, but since the last too aren't--"

"We're here!" Honey shouted from behind Haruhi, making her jump. "Ah...Haruhi-chan was just talking about you!" Tamaki said, opening his arms in greeting. "So, Haruhi, what were you saying again?"

Haruhi bit her liip. "Ah...I need to tlak to you, all of you, before the twins get here."

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Tamaki pinched his nose. He had heard it helped headaches, but it wasn't doing much. The problem was still there.

"So, you're concerned about the twins' relationship?" he asked again, but this time he got an intelligent response.

Haruhi was looking up at the ceiling. "Tamaki-sempai, do you remember when you first met the twins? How distant they were? They said it was only their world, that they had put up a barrier so that nobody could enter their world. But, once you entered this school, you broke that barrier. Yesterday, they were sitting in the middle of a group of people in class. I was watching, and I suddenly wondered what it would have been like if you had never met them. And just as they were starting to drift apart, break away from that lonely world, they begin to feel _these _feelings for each other."

Haruhi took a deep breath. "Back then, it was just brotherly love. The brotherly love won't disappear, but it will be joined by another love. What would happen if they went back into that other world? If they put up that barrier once again?"

Kyouya, who had temporarily abandoned his computer, interrupted Haruhi while she was taking another breath. "What do you suggest we do?"

Haruhi blinked. She hadn't gotten to that part yet. She looked up at the ceiling again. "They'd be in that world, all alone. Only them. We...need to devise a plan. It's a bit blunt, but we need to stop them from retreating behind that barrier once again."

Tamaki banged his fist down on the table in an air of triumph. "That's right! We _must_ do something."

Honey's voice was much quieter, and he was hugging his bunny. "I don't want Kaoru and Hikaru to be that distant again. It took me forever to get a complete conversation from them." Mori nodded.

"Well," Kyouya leaned back in his chair and closed his computer(gasp!). "Why don't you just talk with them, Haruhi? Hikaru still has a hard time saying no to you, so it shouldn't be hard to convince him to go on a walk with you, and with their new relationship, Kaoru would probably jog along with. You could just go on a walk with them to a secluded, empty place, and then give them a talk."

Haruhi paled. "But...I don't want to be the one!"

Kyouya raised his eyebrows. "So, you're fine talking about them behind their back, but you can't talk to them face-to-face?" Haruhi made a face, and Kyouya twiddled with his glasses. "Besides...if the two refused to play our little club game, the costs would be extremely high. Of course, they'd be added to your debt."

Haruhi sighed. _Bastard, bastard, bastard. Kyouya you bastard!_

"Alright, I'll try to find a time."

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Alright, I'd like to say a little something. I got two bad reviews. Or, one and a half. Anyway, **Mike Sunami**, I'd like to reply to your review. **I WASN'T FUCKING DONE, DAMMIT!**

Now that that's out of my system, I'd also like to point out to **The Lolita Doll **that the first paragraph in my story was just for fun. It wasn't actually part of the story.

Also, I'm sorry this chap is so short. The next chapter will probably be of Haruhi's talk, but since I have to work on my volleyball fic, it won't up for a while. That's all. Ja ne!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry for the delay! Here's chapter 3!

I don't own Ouran High School Host Club!

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Haruhi sighed. This was getting irritating. Somehow, the twins' secret had leaked out, and now none of their fangirls would leave the twins alone. An inner part of her wanted to go up and shove the girls away, but Haruhi was not an aggressive person. Usually. Tamaki had somehow unearthed the tiny bit that _was _aggressive, but she usually only directed it at him, or anyone that annoyed her. Which, actually, was most of the host club.

Closing her book, Haruhi stood up from the desk she had been sitting at. All attempts at studying had been ruined. Pushing her chair back under the desk, Haruhi walked past all of the shelves, and up to the library desk.

"May I please check this book out?" she asked the librarian, who was flipping through a book catalog. The cranky old lady put down her catalog and nodded, taking the book from Haruhi's outstretched hand.

"Haruhi?" Haruhi blinked and turned around. Kaoru had a book in his hand and was walking over towards her. He had surprised expression on his face. How surprising, to find the school's number 1 bookworm in the _library._

"Oh, hello Kaoru-kun. Are you also checking out a book?" Haruhi greeted her classmate pleasantly. It was almsot better to pretend she had never heard the news. Kaoru just nodded and set his book on the counter for the librarian to check out. "Yeah, I can't get any studying in," the boy said, leaning against the counter. "I noticed a little after I realized I'd read the same line 6 times."

"Hmm...I can't seem to study either. Hey, while we're at it, would you mind taking a walk with me? I need to tell you something." Haruhi mentally groaned, the words had flown out of her mouth before she even knew it. Kaoru's eyes widened, but he just nodded in agreement.

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"So, what was it you wanted to ask me?" Kaoru said, adjusting the book under his arm. Haruhi cleared her throat. Her idea of a 'walk' had actually taken the two out towards the courtyard. Why teh courtyard? Only the author knows.

"Oh, well, actually, I was going to tell you something...but..."

"It's hard to get out?" Kaoru asked, finishing Haruhi's sentence for her. Haruhi just nodded, and Kaoru's eyes were sympathetic. "Might it have something to do with Hikaru's and my relationship?"

Haruhi nodded again, and Kaoru didn't say anything.Haruhi bit her lip, this was not going well. She was going to have to say something soon...

"Oh, look. The sakura tree is already blooming." Kaoru's voice rang through her ears. _Sakura...tree...wha?_

"Oh!" Haruhi said when Kaoru pointed to the said tree. "Right, I forgot. Sorry. I honestly think my brain isn't working today!" Haruhi giggled, a high, shrill giggle that showed how nervous she was. Kaoru gave her the are-you-alright? look, and she shut up, choosing instead to gaze at the tree Kaoru had mentioned.

"It's beautiful..." she said softly. Whenever the wind blew, a few sakura petals would fall off of the tree and blow across the courtyard. The ground was already littered with the soft, pink petals. All of the colors: pink petals, green glass, the blue sky and the water in the fountain, the gray of the cement in the sidewalk and of the academy walls. They all clashed, creating the perfect color scheme. Haruhi wished she could take a picture.

"Kaoru...will you promise me something?" Haruhi asked her friend. Again, the words had come out of her mouth without her permission. Kaoru rose an eyebrow and humored her, nodding slowly, turning to look back out at the beautiful courtyard.

"Will you promise that...you'll never retreat behind that wall again? The one that you and Hikaru put up, to keep everyone else out? I know...you two love each other...but we, the host club, also love you. You're like family to us. And we don't want you to be so secluded, so distant, like you were back then. Promise you'll always stay the same, please?"

Kaoru took in a sharp breath. This was the thing she had wanted to talk about? Not exactly what he had expected...but what _had _he expected? How should he respond? Had Haruhi already talked like this with Hikaru? Could he actually promise her this one promise? He had no idea what would come in the future, but...

"I'll try my best," he said, smiling down at Haruhi. It was surely a unique smile, and one he used seldomly. Haruhi melted at the sight of it; she could understand how Hikaru had grown feelings for his own brother.

_NO! Bad thought! Get out, you nasty thought! I can't think about Kaoru like that!_

"But...Haruhi?"

Haruhi snapped back to attention. "Yes, Kaoru-kun?" she asked, perplexed. Was he going to ask her to promise him something? Wasn't that how it worked; an eye for an eye, ear for an ear? Promise for a promise?

"Er, we're going to be late to class if we don't hurry," Kaoru smiled apologetically at Haruhi, as though reading her mind. _Ahahah...I feel like such an idiot!_

"Oh...class...right then. Let's go!" Haruhi and Kaoru rushed off to class, arriving just in time for the bell to ring.

Haruhi smiled as she took her seat. _Well, that wasn't so bad. I just Hikaru will be as understanding as Kaoru-kun was..._

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There! I KNOW it's too short, I'll work on getting it longer. I put this together in less than a 1/2 hour, so it probably sucks. Please don't flame!

Ja ne!


	4. Chapter 4

Omg! The stats aren't rising anymore! TT That makes me so sad! So, please tell everyone about my stories, because, well, they're disappointing me a bit. So, yeah. Oh, and I'm trying to write this while watching the 3rd Naruto movie, so if I get things confused, please forgivith me!

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Haruhi scribbled an equation in her notebook. Glancing up at the board, she scribbled down that equation too. She was trying hard not to daze off during class, because she knew the twins would be wanting her notes later. (They were currently indulged in a game if hangman.) And that's when she figured...

She'd talk with Hikaru.

Haruhi bit her lip. When had this whole thing turned into a game? Hah! She was so stupid, comparing her current situation to a silly game.

Although...it did sound similar to one of the games the twins would play. Something that they would have to plan out, and execute with acute accuracy. But, now _she_ was the one playing the game. And she didn't know if she could place the final step.

_It hadn't been all that bad with Kaoru_, Haruhi reasoned. _I'm probably just being a pessimist as usual. Hikaru and Kaoru are twins, so their reactions can't be that different, right?_

"Fujioka-san! FUJIOKA-SAN!"

Haruhi startled. "Err...yes, sensei?" she asked. She had just done what she had been trying so hard to put off.

"You were spacing off. Now, please explain how to do numbers 5 through 10."

Haruhi mentally groaned. She hadn't been paying attnetion in class the past few days, so she had no _clue _how to do the specified problems. Standing, she mumbled, "Ah, yes. Err, number five..."

That day was going to be extremely tedious and tiring.

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Haruhi sank into one of the chairs at the host club. Who knew there were actually two different ways to find the 'honored' sets for variables? And that she actually knew one of them? Or, rather, that she had made one of them up on the spot.

"Haruhi-kun, why were you spacing off in mathematics?" one of her customers asked. Haruhi tensed slightly and laughed it off. "Oh, I had something on my mind, was all. I like to work problems out on my notepad, and I might've gotten too involved in a problem to notice sensei was talking to me."

"Ooohhhh..." the girls moaned. "Haruhi-kun, you're so smart!" they cried, wooing their favorite host member. Haruhi shook her head modestly and said, "Oh, no, not really. I'm so surprised I actually understand the material sometimes!"

One of the girls raised her hand hesitantly. "Um, ano, Haruhi-kun? I thought you _got _here on a scholarship? Doesn't that mean you're really smart, and that you understand the material really well?"

Haruhi leaned back until she was looking up at the ceiling. "Well, I suppose so. But, I haven't had time to study much, and I think I'm starting to fall behind." After this came several girls offering study parties at their homes, all of which Haruhi gently declined, insisting that she studied best on her own. This also resulted in several protests, and Haruhi found herself making excuses feverishly. _So, this is what having fangirls is like...I'd much rather have fanguys, honestly. Ewww...wait..._

Haruhi didn't know that two people were talking about her at that very moment. Two orange-haired club members were sitting on a couch, watching their classmate with interest.

"Hikaru, you should escort her home. I'm sure she would appreciate it." Kaoru drawled out, eyes never leaving his favorite 'toy'.

"I have a feeling I don't have a say in this."

"Nope!" Hikary chirruped cheerfully, turning his back to Haruhi just in time for Kyouya to come up with more customers.

Hikaru just sighed. Somehow, he had been expecting something along these lines.

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"Haruhi!" Haruhi turned at the sound of her name. Surprised, she greeted the twin. "Yes, Hikaru-kun? Something you needed?"

Hikaru jogged over to the girl and put his hand on her head. "Nope. I'm walking you home today. And you have just as much a say in this as I had," he ended with a wink. Haruhi took the hint and shrugged, indicating she didn't care. "Well, I for one, am glad. Saves me the trouble of asking you to stay after school."

Hikaru blinked, trying to mask his surprise. She had...wanted him to stay after school? Why? As if to answer his question, Haruhi continued. "I wanted to tell you something. I've already told Kaoru, so..."

"Wait," Hikaru interrupted. "You've already spoken wih Kaoru about this? Why didn't he tell me about it?" Hikaru was starting to get an edge to his voice.

"I wanted to tell you, so I asked him not to tell you first," Haruhi said simply. "It's regarding...your guys' relationship."

Hikaru froze. He had been wanting to stay away from that topic for as long as possible. But, all good things must come to an end, and so did the peace that he had enjoyed when they had avoided the subject. "Well?" he choked out. "What about it?"

Haruhi looked her classmate straight in the eye and said, "The other club members and I are...concerned. We, they..." Haruhi bit her lip. This was not what she wanted. Copying her approach she had used on Kaoru, the girl took a deap breath and asked, "Do you remember when you were younger, and felt like you and Kaoru had your own world, and that no one else could enter that world? Well, if that was just brotherly love, what'll happen when you two become overly-protective of each other? The other members and I...are fine with the relationship itself."

Hikaru bit his tongue. He thought about all the things he could say, or do, then. He settled on just waiting and remaining silent. Haruhi obviously wasn't done with her speech.

Haruhi took another deep breath before continuing. "We...don't want you to go back into that world. We want you to stay here with us, and..." Haruhi was at a loss for words. She felt a despair in her stomach. Had she actually convinced him well enough?

Hikaru's long bangs hid his face, so when Haruhi looked at him, she couldn't tell what his reaction was to her quick speech.

"What do you mean...'stay here with us'? We're not...going anywhere, you idiot." Hikaru looked at Haruhi and smiled. Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled back. That smile was ruined, however, when Hikaru patted her on the head a little_ too _hard.

"Ouch, that hurt, Hikaru-kun." she said, swatting her friend's hand away.

"Dummy," Hikaru said, patting Haruhi on the head again, softer this time. Even his voice was soft. Haruhi was suddenly aware of how close they were. Hikaru was standing right in front of her, his chest almost touching hers; his hand on her head.

Haruhi was taking in all of the tiny details, the shine on the buttons of his uniform, the heat radiating from his body. She tingled when he bent down and whispered, "You dummy. Those sorts of things will never come between us. We'll always be together, friends forever, right?" Leaning in even more, the older twin kissed Haruhi gently on the forehead, hand still resting protectively on the girl's head.

Haruhi's feet were stuck to the ground. She felt heat rush to her cheeks, and she found to keep it down. Her eyes widened involuntarily, and her breathing hitched a little. "Y-yes. F-friends forever."

Haruhi breathed a small sigh of relief when Hikaru stepped back. The boy grabbed Haruhi by the arm and pulled her down the hallway. "We better hurry and get you home, otherwise Ranka-san will be suspicious." Hikaru turned so she could se his brilliant smile. "And we wouldn't want that, would we?"

Haruhi shook her head numbly. Really, the messes she got herself into!

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Yay! squeals I honestly had no idea how Hikaru's conversation was going to go, but I figured this was best. Oi, should the story really end in HikaruxKaoru? Because I have a really brilliant idea, and I don't want flames and such for ending it differently. Please, send me a message, or tell me with reviews!

'Reviews are like cookies, you can never have enough!'

-me

Ja ne!


	5. Chapter 5

Alright, I'm completely and totally drained on this idea. So, this is most likely the last chapter. Unless I somehow come up with something last minute. Thank you for the feedback, by the way. Everyone wanted HikaruxKaoru, so Haruhi gets to stay single, I suppose! Enjoy this final chapter, please!

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Haruhi sighed. Things were going really well. The club activities had gone back to normal, and the twins were acting just as they had before their announcement.

_I hope that means they listened to me, and took my words to heart. That was so...weird. I'm really glad that Hikaru and Kaoru are so understanding!_

"Haruhi-kun? Are you all right?" Haruhi snapped her head back to attention when one of the girls put their hand to her forehead. Haruhi laughed lightly and said, "Oh, I'm fine. Please don't worry about me. I'm sorry if I was neglecting you wonderful ladies!"

The three girls around Haruhi swooned. He was apologizing to them for no reason! And he looked so cute, too! Haruhi could practically see the little hearts dancing in the girls' eyes.

"It's alright, we're sorry too!" the girl on Haruhi's left said, leaning in until she was right in Haruhi's face.

"Yeah, yeah," the one on the right said, shaking her fists up and down. "We were just worried, because you seemed really distant!"

"Like the other day," the third added, waving her finger knowingly in the air, and winking at Haruhi for an effect.

"Well, I'm fine," Haruhi said, laughing again. It felt so odd to have complete strangers worrying about you. Not to mention, they all thought you were a guy, and that you were dreamy, and smart, and a whole list of things Haruhi would never call herself.

Relieved, the other girls sat back down and changed the subject to movies they wanted to see at the theater. Haruhi gladly joined into the conversation, if only to keep herself occupied.

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"**Haruhi!**" Haruhi turned at the sound of her name being called. "Oh, hello Hikaru, Kaoru. What's up?"

"**We'd like to thank you!**" the two said in unison. Kaoru walked to Haruhi's left, and Hikaru to Haruhi's right. Both of them took an arm and pulled, dragging Haruhi down the hall with them. "We'd like to thank you--" Kaoru started, looking down at his captive.

"-But not here," Hikaru finished, winking at his friend.

Haruhi, dazed and confused, could only watch helplessly as her body was crated down the hall and outside to to the courtyard. When the three got there, the twins sat Haruhi down on her feet, and she almost immediately wobbled, falling on her butt.

Hikaru and Kaoru laughed at Haruhi's 'smooth' move. Lowering themselves onto the ground beside her, the twins turned to face their captive.

"You're really special to us, Haruhi," Kaoru started unexpectedly.

"We don't know what we'd do without you," Hikaru added.

"We never thought about the side effects of our love," Kaoru stated, leaning back to look up into the clouds.

"The possibility of becoming the twins from our earlier days never occured to us," Hikaru said, mimicking Kaoru's movement.

Haruhi listened to the twins, and wondered how they'd put such a lovely speech together. They were pulling it off smoothly, she noticed, and decided to just listen and wait for them to make the next move.

"So, anyway," Kaoru sat back up, and moved so he was closer to Haruhi.

"We really want you to understand," Hikaru scootched over to Haruhi.

"**How important to us you are**," the twins finished. Haruhi gasped when strong arms pulled her into a hug, a body on either side of her. Even though she was sure it was supposed to be a heart-touchingly sweet moment, Haruhi couldn't help but feel awkward. The feeling subsided, however, when the twins pulled away.

Kaoru and Hikaru pushed their faces close to Haruhi's, arms still wrapped around her slim frame. Haruhi could feel their breath against the sides of her face as they whispered, "**You do understand, don't you?**"

Haruhi nodded, and the arms around her squeezed her for a moment longer, and then left her. She was vaguely aware of the twins standing up, and of Kaoru's hand being offered to her. "That's great!" the boy chirruped, his face shining in the light of the sun. Haruhi took the hand and pulled herself up from the grass.

"Hey, Haruhi," Hikaru said, taking said girl by the shoulder. "Why don't you come to our house and study with us?" Laughing, Kaoru took Haruhi's other arm and said, "Yes, apparently, the Hitachiin brothers both really _suck _at algebra."

"To the point where we'd ask for only the best," Hikaru added.

"I'm not the best," Haruhi mumbled.

"Of course you are!" Kaoru said, beaming brightly as he led the group out towards the waiting limo.

"For us, anyway," Hikaru said, winking yet again to the faint Haruhi. "Lucky us, getting to spent time with you and study for a test we know we'll fail anyway!"

Haruhi smiled a weak smile. Even the Hitachiin twins were smart enough to take a test and not fail, and they knew it. But if they wanted to make excuses to spend time with her, she wouldn't mind. Not...at...all...

Such a happy ending. If only it were this way for every story in life...

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That was really...rushed. You had to read it slowly to actually enjoy it, I think. I always like the feeling I get when I'm first putting down the words, rather than rereading them. So, there you go. This story is now officially complete. Hope you enjoyed it!

Ja ne!


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